Minimum Viable Product – MVP

What is the Minimum Viable Product?

This is a philosophical approach to product design and development. Often, we get clients thinking of a product that has everything no features spared, all the possible options, and for all possible situations. While we always listen to clients and endeavor to provide the product design to their specifications, often they are asking for features and ideas beyond what is commercially viable.

Our approach is to develop the minimal viable product that the client can sell and start generating revenue. Then further development can be funded from the revenue generated from the current selling product.

This can be a complex process we require clients to convey to us all the potential options ideas features and deployment situations. We ask for every possible thing they can think of no matter how silly it sounds. Then we unpick together with the client the essential minimum features. During this process, we consider where the client wishes to take the product so the foundation and core technologies we use can grow with the client’s required needs.

The development costs for a product are high and can take time. Designing only what is needed for initial market opportunity is the best use of the development funds and development time. Once the product is generating sales a percentage of generated revenue can be diverted to continued development. Then development is then self-funded.

While this approach restricts the initial product features it does enable revenue faster than waiting for the ultimate product. This also allows the product to enter the market and enables user feedback which can impact the next version.

As New products are being developed one of the most critical aspects is time to market. Developing the minimum viable product will hasten the time to market. Once the product enters the market then market forces will often dictate the next stage of development. The quicker the product enters the market the quicker the feedback the quicker the next model can be developed and deployed.

This approach has examples in many areas, we crawl before we can walk. We walk before we can run. Staged development of a product allows it to naturally develop to fit the market it was intended for. Often the product development direction can take an unexpected turn as the initial evaluation of the market was incorrect or skewed.

The main objective of this approach is to avoid wasting of time and money and get to market quickly.